40th Anniversary of the Town Meeting Survey

(Host) This year marks the 40th anniversary of Washington
County senator Bill Doyle's Town
Meeting Day survey.

This year's survey asks Vermonters how they feel
about leasing the lottery, same sex marriage, a four year term for governor and
raising the gas tax to fund road and bridge projects.

VPRs Bob Kinzel has more:

(Kinzel) In the winter of 1969, Bill Doyle was serving in his first
year in the Vermont Senate.

The big issue in that Legislative session was a plan
proposed by newly elected Republican governor Deane Davis to implement a state
sales tax for the first time in Vermont.

In an interview in the early 1980s, Davis
said he reluctantly supported the sales tax as the best way to help Vermont
deal with a growing budget deficit even though he knew his plan was going to be
very unpopular:

(Davis) "Immediately
the roof fell in and all the press said well he said it was a last resort and
he's made it the first resort and I did because I knew we couldn't wait two years
I also made the silent commitment to myself that I wouldn't run for governor a
second time but my changed about that !"

Senator Doyle was torn - he wanted to support Governor
Davis but he felt his constituents might strongly oppose the sales tax plan. So
he circulated a survey to gauge public sentiment on this issue:

(Doyle)"It was the toughest issue particularly for a
freshman legislator and so I asked the question if taxes had to be increased
would you prefer an increase in the income or the sales tax and the responses
were about 60/40 in favor of the sales tax...for those reasons I supported the
governor and his sales tax."

This 1969 question
launched the Doyle Town Meeting Day survey.
He readily acknowledges that it's not a scientific poll but he thinks
the results are accurate because he usually receives about 12 thousand
completed returns.

Each year he asks roughly
15 questions on issues pending at the Statehouse and a number of people write
comments about these issues on the back of the survey form:

(Doyle) "I'd say 10% which is a lot 10 to 15% and
those comments are just as valuable as the numerical scores...sometimes long
letters, 2 or 3 paged typewritten letters.

Doyle thinks the results
of the survey can influence legislative action in the second half of a session.
For instance, one question this year is: "Should the gas tax be increased
to improve our roads and bridges?"

(Doyle) "Legislators pay attention to what the
people back home feel anyway but on a question of road and bridges that would
certainly make a difference and it would make a difference on any of these
issues that we're talking about."

Doyle hopes to have the
initial results from this year's survey available in about 10 days.